


Not As They Seem

by fghtr



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: A big mess here kids, Eventual Smut, Gen, High School, Lots of Secrets, M/M, Recreational Drug Use, dont trust anyone, dont try to figure it out just live it, ill add tags as we go, lots of swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-11
Updated: 2017-01-18
Packaged: 2018-09-16 20:38:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9288701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fghtr/pseuds/fghtr
Summary: “We found a body. In the woods.”In other words, the destruction of a small town and it's people.





	1. On the Surface

**Author's Note:**

> "Yet though a life crumbles to dust, life moves ever onward."

“Chankyun, this really isn't a good idea.” Jooheon whined, putting his all into trying to make his best friend reconsider their adventure.

Sighing, Changkyun pulled his arm out of the iron hold Jooheon had on him. “Joo, I've got shit stashed in one of these trees and I need to get it out.”

“What you need is to get out is of this shitty lifestyle, dude.”

“Eh.” Changkyun shrugged, continuing his walk. “Gotta make money somehow in this shithole.”

“You could, like, get a job?”

“Selling weed is my job.”

Jooheon rolled his eyes. “I meant a real job. Why do you even have weed in the woods?”

“People don't go into the woods!” Changkyun voiced matter-of-factly. “Got nothing to worry about.”

“Bears go into the woods.” Jooheon countered, raising his eyebrows.

Changkyun stopped and gave Jooheon a dumbfounded stare. “You're even more stupid than I thought.”

Turning on his heels, he began to walk again. It was late in the evening, and the sun was already set. The moon shown in between the tree branches, and Changkyun was using his phone as a light to guide them.

There wasn't much to do in the small town of Estes Park. A mountain town with nothing big or important of note makes life not only slow, but boring, as well.

Everyone is forced to find their own fun, and it seems as to be that Changkyun’s choice of fun is to be high most of the time and sleeping the rest of it.

“I need to hit some people up tomorrow.” Changkyun stated, now taking a look at trees. Of course he doesn't remember which one he hid the stuff in. “Bora, Yoongi, Hoseok, that one new-”

“Hoseok? You mean Shin Hoseok?” Jooheon questioned, grabbing his best friend's arm.

“...Ah, shit.” Changkyun sighed.

“My brother was one of your customers?”

Changkyun gave him an awkward smile and tried to pull his arm away. He wanted to avoid this conversation, he even promised Hoseok he wouldn't tell. Looks like he might be in deep shit now.

“Changkyun!”

“Okay, yes.” Changkyun sighed in defeat. “He was, but you know he was a good kid, Jooheon. He just need to relax sometimes, and the dope helped with that.”

Jooheon huffed and let go of Changkyun’s arm.

“Since when did you care about your brother anyways?” Changkyun asked, looking in a crevice of another tree. “Thought you told me you hated him. Wouldn't even mind him dead.”

Groaning, Jooheon shook his head. “Never said that last part.” he rejected.

“Don't have to.” Changkyun shrugged. “Wait. Jooheon.”

Changkyun walked towards a rather large tree, which had a large hole at the base of it. He shone his light into it and reached his hand out to touch something inside.

“Changkyun, don't touch random shit you find in trees, dude.”

“It's feet.”

“Excuse me?”

Inside the tree was what appeared to be a plastic, along with a pair of feet that was bloated, purple, and peeling. A smell was flowing around them, the sour and deathly scent of a decaying body. Changkyun was about to touch it, but Jooheon grabbed his arm before he was able to.

“Don’t. Let's go home.”

“No.”

“Let's call the police, then.”

“You do that, I'll pull the body out.”

“Three things.” Jooheon sighed. “You are not touching, let alone pulling out that body. Two, you can't get your fingerprints anywhere, have you never seen any crime shows? Most importantly, no way in hell am I leaving the woods alone or leaving you here alone. The murderer could be around here, y’know, like, revisit the crime scene or whatever.”

Letting up, Changkyun sighed and stood up. “Fine.”

"You're dumb for thinking I'd leave you in there."

"Correction." Changkyun said, feeling Jooheon pulling him along. Funny how he wasn't that strong until he was scared as shit. "I was dumb for thinking I'd trust you to go on your own. I barely got you in here!"

"Okay, but I'm not leaving you with a dead body, for obvious reasons."

※※※

“Oh, Jooheon and Changkyun. Jooheon, did you leave something?” Hyunwoo asked.

Hyunwoo works at his father's tool store. It keeps him busy when he isn't at practice, and helps the business. Hyunwoo is the captain of the swim team. He's handsome, tall with a built body. He's kind and personable, and people enjoy being around him.

“No, I didn't feel safe out there, so we're staying in here while Kyun calls the police.”

“The police?” Hyunwoo asked. “Why?”

Jooheon looked around, and only saw Changkyun on the phone at the front doors and shelves of tools and other hardware

“We found a body. In the woods.”

“A body? Did you see who it was?”

Jooheon shook his head. “No. He was stuffed in a tree, so I didn't see the face.”

“How do you know it's a he?”

Raising his eyebrow, Jooheon cocked his head. “Huh?”

“You called the body a he.” Hyunwoo pointed out. “How do you know it's a he?”

“Oh.” Jooheon whispered. “Huh. I dunno, just a guess.”

“Alright.” Hyunwoo breathed out, then rested his arms on the counter. “Hey, how's your brother?”

“Don't know, don't care.”

“Ouch. Trouble in Shin Paradise?”

Jooheon sighed, bored already with the topic. “Of course not, not for the actual Shin’s. I believe Hoseok said he was going out to visit family or something.”

“Joo, the police are on the way. They want us to be there.”

“Ugh, what did you get me into.” Jooheon groaned.

“Something fun, finally!” Changkyun shouted, grabbing Jooheon’s arm.

Being pulled towards the doors, Jooheon bid farewell to Hyunwoo and they were off again.

※※※

Jooheon couldn't believe it. Maybe he should be expected this.

A detective pulled back the plastic at the face and revealed the victim, and it was none other than Shin Hoseok. His lips were a delicate purple, dry and cracked. His eyelids matching, with a hint of blue. Hoseok was pale to begin with, but he was completely absent of all color now. Hoseok was always doted on for being beautiful, and he still was even without life coursing through his veins any longer. It was a different kind of beauty, though. It was a chilling kind of beauty. The kind that you can't help but feel uncomfortable looking at, but you can't seem to take your eyes away.

Along his forehead, climbing over his gentle eyelid and scaling down his cheek was now dried up blood. It matted his artificially blonde hair to his forehead.

“Oh my god.” Jooheon whispered under his breath. “Oh my god.”

Changkyun stood next to him, unable to think of anyway to console or comfort his best friend. The two of them could only stand and stare.

Jooheon heard the click of a camera, saw the flash illuminate his brother’s face. It was like a nightmare, and Jooheon’s sure he isn't going to wake up.


	2. All Their Suspicion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I only wish I could have brought her news on how happy her life would be. Its too bad I have nothing for her."

_Click._

“So, Mr. Lim.” the detective began, lazily sitting back in his chair. “Let's start from the beginning, shall we? What were you doing in the woods tonight?”

The man in front of him looked younger than most of the detectives. He's skinny and tall, and looks almost weak. He's pretty, but looks tired and worn. It's probably from the amount of hours he works. He introduced himself as Chae Yejun.

“Just walking. Needed some fresh air, so me and Jooheon left for the woods.”

“Who suggested to go to the woods?”

Changkyun shrugged. “I did. Jooheon is scared of the tiniest things so he doesn't like the woods.”

“Who found the body?”

“Me.”

“What were you doing when you found the body?”

“Walking.”

“There's plenty of other places to go walking at this time. Safer places.”

Changkyun, full of boredom, sank in his chair. “Have you walked around town, detective? It gets boring after a while, once you've seen everything.”

“What's your relationship to our victim, Shin Hoseok?” The detective asked, changing the direction of the conversation.

“Nothing significant.” Changkyun simply stated. “Jooheon is my best friend, Hoseok is his half brother. I'd see him around Jooheon’s house sometimes but that's it.” He lied, straight through his teeth

“How is Jooheon’s relationship with Hoseok?”

Changkyun wanted to laugh. Jooheon hated Hoseok. Seeing him react the way he did tonight was out of character, but Changkyun supposes that death can drastically change circumstances.

“As good as half brothers could have a relationship. There was the constant rivalry, but Jooheon loved him.” Changkyun lied, again.

“Alright, last thing. You are aware of your criminal background, correct?”

Changkyun scoffed. He knew this would come up. “What kind of question is that?”

“I guess then you know that it won't help you in this?”

“Are you saying I'm a suspect?” Changkyun accused.

“Only a person of interest, Mr. Lim.” The detective clarified.

Angrily, Changkyun placed his arms on the table. “Well, Mr. Chae, I only found the body. I was just in the wrong place in the wrong time.”

Unaffected by Changkyun’s harsh tone, Yejun blankly stated at him. “Yes, well, that's all I needed for today, Mr. Lim. I'm sure I will be seeing you again soon.”

※※※

Changkyun sat in the dimly lit main lobby of the police station, waiting for Jooheon to come out of his own interview. Bored, he tapped his dirty leather combat boots on the floor beneath him, his thin leg bouncing up and down.

He heard the main doors open, and came in a boy wearing the same uniform Changkyun wears to school. He was tall, and his skin was glowing. Dusty blonde hair sprawled upon his forehead, long eyelashes decorated his big, sleepy eyes. He resembled the detective that had interviewed him, but in a way, he was much prettier. He had an air to him that was haunting but drawing, like you wanted to know more about him, but you're too intimidating to talk to him. The boy looked at Changkyun, only for a mere second, but it was like time stopped. Even when he looked away, Changkyun kept staring. Changkyun doesn't get why, but he did.

“Changkyun.”

Changkyun looked over and saw Jooheon, red faced and teary-eyed. Changkyun stood up at the sight, concerned for his best friend.

“Jooheon, are you okay?” Changkyun asked, moving towards Jooheon.

Holding out his arms, Changkyun felt Jooheon envelop himself into a hug in them. That's when Jooheon let himself cry again. Changkyun held him close, rubbing his back, feeling Jooheon sob.

“He's actually gone.” Jooheon barely could get out. His grip became impossibly tighter on Changkyun’s loose t-shirt.

“I know.” Changkyun whispered. “I know.’

※※※

Jooheon wasn't seen around school for a while after the discovery of Hoseok’s body. News spread quickly, though, that Changkyun was with him when it happened. Consequently, he was the one to take all the questions.

Everybody wanted to know something. What did Hoseok look like? Why was he in the woods? How did he die? Nothing was released to the public besides that the honor student football star was found murdered in the woods, so people were left to leave the details up to their imagination. Or Changkyun.

The girls that were into Hoseok weren't into Changkyun, so having them flock around him was different, and not in a good way. It was terribly annoying. It was also intimidating to have the entire football team swarming, demanding answers. What was really hard, though, was that no one cared about Jooheon, or how he was taking it. He lost his brother, yet no one was worried.

No wonder Jooheon hated his brother.

“Hey, Changkyun.”

Changkyun broke loose from his train of thought once he heard his name being called. He looked up from his locker and saw the boy from the police station.

“Yes?”

The boy stood straight, showing no emotion.. “Can I talk to you? In private?”

Changkyun sighed. He knew what this was going to be about, it was going to be about Hoseok. There's a difference, though. Changkyun wanted to talk to this kid, ask why he was at the police station, and if he had any information he'd he willing to share.

“Sure.” Changkyun agreed, grabbing his bag and shutting his locker.

The two boys made their way outside of the school, completely silent. The more Changkyun waited for the boy to say something, the more he realized he's going to be the one to start this conversation.

“So what’s up?” Changkyun asked once they got to the courtyard. He took a seat on top of a picnic table, resting his arms on his knees.

“Why were you in the woods that night?”

Changkyun made eye contact with the boy, and cocked his eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Don't play dumb.” He said, walking towards the table. “I saw you that night, in the woods.”

“Why were _you_ in the woods?”

“Irrelevant.”

“It isn't, though.” Changkyun insisted. “You being in the woods is just as suspicious as me being in the woods.”

The boy leaned his head to the side. He was toeing the tip of his shoe into the dirt. “You found the body. Aren't you the more suspicious one?”

Changkyun silently stared at the boy, then scoffed. “Are you really suggesting I killed Hoseok?”

“You're saying you didn't?”

“What? Why the hell would I kill Hoseok? Why would you even suggest that?”

“I know a lot more about you than you think, Changkyun, especially about your… interesting past.” the boy confidently admitted. “But if you're not gonna tell me anything then I've gotta go. See you around.”

Just as mysteriously as he came, he was gone.

“What the fuck.” Changkyun whispered, to nobody in particular. “I didn't even get his name.”

**Author's Note:**

> good luck with this one


End file.
